Dragon horns are pretty dense
by Neospector
Summary: A few days after the Black Heaven crashes, Kyle discovers a shocking secret about his old friend. How's he supposed to react to this?
1. Chapter 1

**Note: Due to the broadness of Maplestory's general timeline, this story is set a few days after Black Heaven, but before the arrival of Kinesis in Maple World. Also, I will be using the name "Shade", rather than the Korean transliteration of "Eunwol".**

 **All characters owned by Nexon.**

* * *

Kyle heaved a sigh, and leaned back in his hammock. He casually glanced at his surroundings.

Toys and games strewn about, a mix of posters drawn in markers done at age 6 and posters drawn in markers at age 15. It felt weird to call a place like this "home", but that's what it was.

"Headquarters of the Heliseum Force..." he muttered. He pursed his lips and gently rocked the hammock.

It had been a grand total of 4 days after the battle.

Black Heaven. Gelimer's airship. Stuff about spirits and wishes and robots galore. Just thinking about the whole situation made Kyle's head hurt. It had been a big battle. The largest fought against the Black Mage's forces so far; that much was obvious.

The first few days after the battle had been pure euphoric celebration. The entirety of the Alliance; Resistance, Knights, Nova, everyone who was someone joined Angelic Buster for a concert. After that, everyone went home, and celebrated some more. On the third day, messages had been sent out to key people involved in the Black Heaven operation from the Empress. She essentially ordered every single person who had been involved to take a few days off, if possible, and relax. Kyle took that advice.

He sighed again.

Still though, there's a difference between relaxing and doing nothing. He half-wondered if he should go train a little, or sightsee, or do something to keep his mind off of the sheer boredom he was in.

"If your bored, why not go out for a walk or something?"

Kyle lazily turned his head and was greeted with the sight of his childhood friend, Tear. The orange-haired Nova girl was smiling cheerfully, and she was holding a lage pile of oddly-colored rocks, and had a smear of dirt on her left cheek, probably from digging up the rocks. She sat down with her legs crossed and set the pile of rocks down.

Kyle laughed a little. "Are you a mind-reader now?"

"Please, they could hear you sighing in Vulpes, you idiot."

Kyle tried to perform a shrug, but only managed to raise one arm. Tear began to lazily sort the rocks by color and size.

"You've got dirt on your face."

"I know."

"Oh. Okay, then."

Kyle lazily watched his friend. He noticed something he hadn't really noticed before. Tear seemed to pause a little, and made a face that was sort of the same face one might make if they were having a full-course meal cooked for them by Edea. She then shook her head, mumbled something under her breath, and resumed counting her rocks.

'Well, that was weird.' Is what Kyle thought.

Suddenly, Tear made a face that resembled what one looked like after having eaten the full-course meal cooked by Edea. She suddenly stood up.

"U-um! I forgot! I've got...something to do! Kylan needed me to...sort...stuff! S-sorry Kyle."

"Oh!" Kyle was surprised. "Ok then, good luck!"

Tear muttered a small apology and quickly ran out of their childhood playarea, turning a hard right as she exited the door.

Normally, Kyle would have brushed it off. Tear didn't lie. Not to him, anyway. But her reactions seemed different, and...

Wait.

Right. Why did she turn right? To get to Pantheon she would have to turn left, not right. Kyle sat up. He felt worried. It was probably nothing, but he couldn't help feel a hard tug in his heart that something was wrong. What if Tear was having some kind of problem? What if Tear was being tempted by Magnus? He didn't peg Tear as the type that would be lured in by the traitor, but after what happened with Velderoth...

'What if...Tear is being bullied?'

That definitely struck a chord with the blue-haired Nova. Tear was born without a tail and without magic. He had always been her friend and had stood up for her when she was teased, but he had also been spending a lot of time in Maple World recently. He hadn't been there to protect her. Maybe...maybe someone started picking on her while he was gone. And she didn't tell him because she didn't want him to worry, or maybe even because she was being threatened?

Kyle fumed at the thought. Threaten his best friend in the whole world...in both worlds...in all the worlds out there? Not on his watch.

With a flick of his wrist, flames engulfed his hand. He closed his grip and the flames solidified into the handle of the Kaiseron. He pulled the remainder of the blade out of thin air from a sheath of fire. He held the ancient sword in his hand. If Tear was being bullied, he wouldn't actually use the Kaiseron on them, but he would sure as hell _threaten_ to use it on them.

He rushed out the door and made a right. He ran straight for a little while before he heard Tear's voice. It sounded like it was coming from behind a large circle of rocks.

Kyle circled the rocks until he spotted a small crack, whereupon he peered through and was greeted with the sight of Tear's back. She appeared to be speaking to someone he couldn't see.

"...ust why do you have to call me out like that?! At that time?!"

"Shut your adorable little mouth", Kyle heard an older voice say. He gripped his Kaiseron tighter. "We need to practice your routine, anyway!"

"But why?"

"Because I said so, that's why!"

"I don't want to!"

"Well, you have to!"

Kyle surpressed the urge to growl. This guy was forcing his friend to do something she didn't want to do. Maybe he would actually use his Kaiseron after all...

"Besides", the voice continued, "best to learn your routine for your next event anyway, right?"

Event?

"It's better for you to get it over with", said the voice. "Sing a few songs, then sign a few autographs, easy-peasy."

Autographs?

"I mean, come on, you're the one and only! The Idol of the Battlefield!"

Ido-wha of the huh-now?

Kyle heard Tear growl.

"I didn't wanna become the Angelic Buster, you know!"

...

HUH?!


	2. Chapter 2

Kyle sat on the steps of the Pantheon temple, with his hands covering his face.

'What, exactly, just happened?' Went his thoughts.

About fifteen minutes ago, after his friend had taken off into the forest, spoken with some mysterious stranger, and yelled out that she was the Idol beloved by two entire dimensions, the stranger simply tut-tutted her and told her to practice dance moves.

"Yes, I know, you've told me plenty of times. Now come on and work on that routine!" Was what the stranger had said, specifically.

Kyle had left a few minutes later, leaving his friend in the middle of trying to do some kind of clap-step-clap-step-hip-shake. The image of Tear trying to perform those moves forced him to suppress a rather loud giggling-snort sound that was welling up inside him.

The smile on his lips quickly faded as he thought about it some more.

It couldn't really be true, could it? The Angelic Buster may be an idol, but she was also a ferocious fighter. Specters were squashed underneath her giant hammer, or blasted in the face with a Celestial Roar. The Angelic Buster was on par with the explorers and heroes of Maple World. The Angelic Buster was on par with Kyle himself.

Tear, as much as he cared for his friend, could barely snip the stem of a Grobbler. She couldn't even use magic. They couldn't possibly be the same person...could they?

"Maybe..." He mumbled.

"Maybe, what?"

Kyle jumped. He looked up into the eyes of the girl in question. Tear blinked.

"You look worried, is something bothering you?"

Kyle hesitated. If he just flat-out asked her, she would probably just deny it. He needed to figure out a way to expose it himself. Preferably in front of as few bystanders as possible, of course, but asking directly was a no-no.

"...I'm fine." Is what Kyle settled on.

Tear smiled cheerfully.

"Great!" She said. "I'm hear to listen to you if you ever need anything! You can tell me anything!"

'But are you telling me everything?' Is what Kyle thought. What came out of his mouth was "Yup!"

"Lord Kaiser!" A new voice shouted. Both Kyle and Tear turned to see a human, dressed in the garb of the Cygnus Knights, rushing over to the two. He stopped in front of them and gave a slight bow.

"The Empress sends her greetings." The knight announced. "She believes that after the incident involving Black Heaven, all of the heroes involved deserve a proper vacation, courtesy of her majesty."

The knight produced two envelopes stamped with the Empress's seal.

"Tickets to a hot spring, in Zipangu. As well as a teleport scroll to get there. Apparently this hot spring was tucked away on a corner of Mushroom Shrine. Her majesty heard of it from lord Takeda Shingen. He says it's a place to forget all your worries."

Kyle vaguely remembered the man with a mass of red hair carrying a fan, but thought little of it. The knight handed him one of the envelopes.

"This is for you."

Kyle nodded. "Thanks." He paused, then said, "You...you said that all the heroes were invited?"

"Yes sir, everyone who was on-board the Lumeire. Yourself, mister Evan, mister Brighton..." The knight continued prattling off a list.

"Will the Angelic Buster be there?"

The knight looked surprised. "As a matter of fact, yes. This is her envelope." He held up the one he hadn't given to Kyle. "Speaking of which, I'm not exactly sure where she is. Could you help me find her?"

Kyle had an idea. He took a quick glance at Tear. She appeared to have her back turned, kicking rocks aimlessly at a small tree. He pulled the knight close and spoke quietly.

"I'll take her ticket."

"Sir?" The knight asked.

"W-what I mean is, I'll take it, and give it to Edea. She knows where the Angelic Buster is. She is the lead strategist, after all."

"If you say so, sir." The knight handed Kyle the second envelope. "Head off whenever you feel like it, I still need to deliver a few more messages for her majesty." The knight gave another bow, a small salute, and rushed off in the direction he had come. Kyle kept his back turned to Tear.

Carefully so that she didn't notice, he began fiddling with the seal on the Angelic Buster's envelope. As he suspected, there was only one ticket inside. He shoved the empty envelope into his pocket and started opening his.

"H-hey, Kyle?"

Kyle froze and gripped the envelope. "Y-yeah?"

There was an awkward pause.

"...nothing, never mind."

Kyle let out a quiet sigh. She hadn't caught on yet. He wasn't as good at stealth as those Resistance people, so he was glad his plan was fooling Tear...as proud as he could be that he was basically lying through his teeth with every word he said, that is.

He swiftly opened his own envelope and pulled out the tickets. He glanced over his shoulder again and took a deep breath.

'Now or never.' He thought.

"Hey, Tear?"

Tear turned around to face him. "Y-yeah?"

"Would...would you like to come along with me? There's two tickets here."

Tear was silent for a moment. Then, her face lit up in surprise. Then, her face turned a bright shade of pink.

"W-w-with y-you? T-to a hop string? I mean hit sprong? I mean hot spring?"

"Well, there'll be other people there..."

"O-oh...right...people...but..."

"Would you like to go?" Kyle tried his hardest to make a "pretty-please" face.

"W-well...I suppose..." She mumbled something Kyle couldn't quite hear.

"Huh?"

"S-SURE! YES! YES! ALRIGHT!" Her face was flushed a deep crimson now.

Kyle smiled. "Let's go get ready, then."

"YES!"

Kyle watched as Tear half-skipped, half-jogged away before losing his smile. He felt awful for tricking his friend like that. But he needed to know. Was it all some kind of misunderstanding? Or if it wasn't, why had his friend hidden it from him? Did she not trust him?

He absolutely had to know. He absolutely had to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: For canon lore purposes, the role of the main hero in the Black Heaven storyline has been given to the Explorer character. I've simply made up names for the Explorer and the Cannoneer.**

* * *

Crickets chirped as the soft fizzle of magic brought two beings, and two medium-sized travel bags, back into the world in front of a small, wooden building.

Kyle felt a little queasy, as he always did after a teleport. It didn't sit right with him. Even the portal between Pantheon and Six Paths Crossway made him feel a twinge of motion sickness. Ironic, considering the point of teleportation was supposed to be that there was no physical motion involved.

He glanced at Tear. She seemed to have also taken the scroll's power poorly, as she sort of wobbled back and forth for a bit. Kyle picked up both bags and walked inside the building, with Tear following shortly behind him. The receptionist greeted him with a smile before taking their bags and directing them to the actual baths. Kyle gave a half-wave to Tear before he entered the men's side. Tear gave a half-wave back.

Once outside in the actual spring portion of the hot spring, Kyle could see that everyone involved with the Black Heaven had indeed been invited; Hawkeye was sitting on a rock, talking up a storm with a rather bored-looking Dual Blade. Mihile appeared to simply relaxing, sitting next to Luminous, who, if he hadn't been chest-deep in steaming water, would have appeared to be meditating on some kind of divine, cosmic question.

It was Evan who noticed Kyle first.

"Ah! Kasier! I mean, Lord Kaiser! It is 'Lord', right? Geez, another famous person, I feel like I don't belong with you guys!"

The boy gave a cheery smile. He was easily the youngest of everyone present, a good year or two younger than Kyle himself. Maybe the youngest person in the entire Alliance. He did look out of place. The fact that the was a large, dark blue dragon curled up on the far edge of the spring considered the young boy to be his master just served to make him stand out more.

Hawkeye gave a mischevious grin. "Heya dragon-boy numero dos. How's it hangin'?"

Kyle smiled. "Great, thanks for asking, captain."

"Call me Hawkeye!"

"Hawkeye it is, and you can call me Kyle."

"So Kyle," Brighton, the Resistance's head Battle Mage, spoke up from near the center of the pool. "If you're here, does that mean that little lady friend of yours is too? The Angelic Buster, I mean?"

At the name of the idol, the Dual Blade perked up.

"The Angelic Buster is here?" Asked a man with white hair and a scar over his left eye. Kyle recalled his name being Jack, the Cannoneer. "Wow! To think, another beautiful girl right behind that wall over there." He made a lewd face and gestured to a tall, wooden wall, which Kyle guessed was the divider between the male and female baths. "Niiice!"

Kyle fought the urge to stab the pirate right between his shifty green eyes. "No. I'm afraid...she. Couldn't. Make. It." He spaced out his words to try and get his point across. Kyle then stepped into the spring himself.

"Heh, don't try it kid." Hawkeye leaned back slightly on the rock he was sitting on. "The girls over there are some of the most powerful people in the world. Trying to get a peep would be suicide. Believe me. There was this time when I was on a mission with Irena, and I tried to get a little peep. She nearly punctured my..."

"No one wants to hear about your perverted adventures, fish-for-brains" Interrupted Mihile. Hawkeye made a "phooie" sound and began conversing with Jack.

Kyle was glad that discussion was over. Whether she was the Angelic Buster or not, Kyle didn't want anyone sneaking a look at Tear while she was in the bath. He paused for a moment, and then shook the image of his friend out of his head entirely.

He still needed to figure out if Tear was lying or not. If he could get the Angelic Buster to show up tonight, he would know for certain. After all, he had taken her ticket. There would be no way for her to know that he was here, unless she was here to begin with.

Kyle sank up to his nose in the water and started to blow bubbles, getting lost in his thoughts, which is why the next comment took him by surprise.

"So, do any of you guys know who the Angelic Buster really is?"

Kyle choked on some of the water he accidentially inhaled, causing him to let out a series of loud coughs. The person who asked the question was one of the explorers; a hero-class warrior, to be specific. This was the warrior who had made it onto the Black Heaven's deck first, and the one who had fought with both Lotus and Gelimer. His name was Yuuki.

"Dunno." Commented Jack.

"Wish I knew." Added Hawkeye.

"Isn't it kind of the point that her identity's a secret?" Chimed Evan.

Luminous made a face that insinuated that he thought the conversation was stupid, but didn't go out of his way to leave.

"Hey Kyle, you know, dontcha?" Hawkeye asked.

"W-well...I..." Kyle hesitated. He could tell them his theory, and tell them his plan, but that might be bad for Tear.

"I know who she is."

Everyone in the bath jumped at the new voice. It was a grim, solemn voice that was not quite commanding, but definitely not quiet. The voice originated from a long figure sitting in the back of the hot spring. He had long, black hair and deep purple eyes. If Kyle had to describe the man's face in a single word, it would be "sad".

"I...I mean, I don't know who she is, as in her name, but I've seen what she looks like."

"Right..." Said Hawkeye, scratching his head. "What's 'yer name again?"

The man frowned and his face seemed to fall even more.

"Hawkeye, don't be rude!" Snapped Mihile. "He introduced himself to the Empress a while back, remember?"

"Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that. I just couldn't place your name."

Kyle noticed that the man seemed to be extremely relieved at this comment before he spoke again.

"Shade." He said. "You can call me Shade."

Hawkeye nodded. "Shade...got it. Wont forget it again!"

Shade smiled. "As far as miss...um...Buster? Well, as far as her identity goes, she was doing a concert...near Florina Beach, I think it was? Anyway, I had been taking a walk and came up to the concert from behind- completely accidentially, that is- and I saw her taking a break. She...transformed."

"Transformed?" Evan looked confused.

"Yes, one minute she was standing there with pink pigtails and her normal- well, as normal as it is- outfit, then there's this big flash of pink, and suddenly she was different."

Kyle paused.

"W...what did she look like?"

"Well, she was still a Nova, only her horns were black instead of bright blue, and her wings were more purplish instead of clear blue. She had shoulder-length orange-ish hair, kind of a plain-looking face..."

Kyle didn't like where this was going.

"...oh, and there was something funny; I couldn't see her tail."

"Tear." Kyle said aloud.


	4. Chapter 4

"Tear." Kyle said aloud.

"Huh? Who's crying?" Evan looked puzzled.

"Wha? No, Tear is...she's...wait..." Kyle fumbled with his words.

"Tear's a person?" Asked Mihile.

"Well, yes-"

"So she's the Angelic Buster?" Asked Yuuki.

"No! Well, maybe, I think...no!"

"Perhaps you could come inside and collect your thoughts, sir Kaiser?"

Everyone turned to look at the new voice.

"Heya half-glasses!" Brighton cheerfully waved. "Aren't you here to relax with the rest of us? You're still fully dressed, though."

"The Empress did, in fact, order me to come here, yes. And as much as I would _love_ to join you all..." Neinheart let out an exasperated sigh and used a handkerchief to wipe his monocle, which was fogging up. "...I prefer to take my baths _alone_."

"Leave it to Ninney to be the only person in the world who needs to be ordered to take a vacation." Hawkeye shrugged.

"...returning to the topic at hand...sir Kaiser? Perhaps you'd like to explain some things?"

* * *

A short while later, the group which had been relaxing in a hot spring was now strewn about a large room. Kyle sat cross-legged in front of a small table. Neinheart stood above him. After Kyle had spent several minutes explaining his relationship with Tear, what had happened the other day, his theory, and his plan, there was a long, awkward silence. It was broken only by another sigh from Neinheart.

"Sir Kaiser, I'm aware that although you fight at the front of the battle quite often, you don't actually _make_ the battle plans, correct?"

"No, Edea makes the plans."

"Edea, the strategist, makes the plans, and you follow them, correct?"

"Yeah, that just about sums it up."

"Then I might suggest, sir Kaiser, that you continue to let Edea make the plans, and avoid making them yourself in the future."

"Okay the- wait, what's that supposed to mean?!"

Neinheart sighed again. "It means, sir Kaiser, that your plan suffers from several fatal flaws, and would have undoubtedly failed if you ever attempted it."

"How so?!"

"I'll explain..." Neinheart wiped his monocle with his handkerchief as he spoke. "Your plan was to create a situation in which the Angelic Buster would be needed. The method you chose was to fake you being captured by monsters. As you brought your friend on this trip, which is irresponsible I might add, if she was, in fact, the Angelic Buster, then she would be forced to reveal herself, because you never told the Angelic Buster that this vacation was ever going on."

Kyle nodded.

Neinheart put his monocle back on. "The first flaw, off the top of my head is that there aren't any powerful monsters anywhere near here. The most you might encounter is a Nightghost, which might be good for scaring you in your sleep, but could be dealt with bare-handed by any one of you..."

"Oh..." Kyle looked disappointed.

"I'm not finished. 'Bare-handed by any one of you' brings me to my second point: even if you could, successfully, fake being captured, you didn't let anyone in on your plan. Which means that even if your friend _were_ the Angelic Buster, you would most likely find her majesty Mercedes, or lady Aran, or even sir Hawkeye coming to your aide. Unless everyone else was in on your plan, there would be no guarantee that the Angelic Buster would even need to help."

Kyle hung his head.

"The problem with your plan, sir Kaiser, is that it is far too vulnerable to outside influence. I will concede, the initial premise of bringing your friend here in order to test whether or not it's possible for the two girls to be in the same place, that part is quite solid. However, the way you're going about the plan is completely backwards. The concept is fine, the implementation is absolutely horrendous."

There was a long silence.

"So, what do we do?" Asked Hawkeye.

"Excuse me?" Neinheart stared at Hawkeye. "Why do I have to do anything?"

"Ninney, you might think you hide a lot behind that face of yours, but I know you." Hawkeye crossed his arms. "And I can tell that you thought up a way to make his plan work, haven't you?"

Neinheart tugged at his sleeves and gave the faintest of smiles. "I...may have considered something...I do like solving problems..."

"Yeah, besides, we always help our friends!" Cheered Evan.

"I'm in." Said Mihile.

"We'll help out!" Yuuki said.

Luminous gave a big sigh. "...fine. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

"It'll be fun." Remarked Shade.

Kyle looked around at everyone. "Thank you...really..."

"Anything for a friend!" Evan beamed.

"Indeed." Said Neinheart. "Now, if you want to catch your friend off-guard, we should make use of the surroundings. Here's what we'll do..."

And with that, Neinheart began describing his plan.


	5. Chapter 5

Kyle took a deep breath. He was standing in front of the door to the girls' room. He could hear several voices chattering inside. Kyle waited for a moment, and then knocked on the door.

The chattering died down a little and Kyle could hear footsteps. The door opened slightly to reveal a tall, white-haired woman with tanned skin and her hair tied up in a pony tail. Aran; the warrior of Rien.

"Whaddya want?" She asked, leaning against the door frame. A few seconds later, her face lit up in recognition. "Oh wait, you're that dragon kid. The Kaiser, right?"

Kyle nodded.

"What brings you here?" Aran gave a teasing grin. "Come to give your little friend you brought along a goodni-"

"Aran! Don't tease the boy!" From behind the warrior came a softer voice that Kyle recognized as Mercedes. The elf queen had her hair tied up in a bun, and seemed to radiate a regal aura.

"So, is there anything we can do for you?" The queen asked.

"Um..." Kyle paused for a moment, and then remembered why he was there. "Oh! Right, I wanted to ask Tear if she wanted to go for a walk."

The two women stared blankly for a moment, and then broke out in two equally large grins.

"Sure, sure!" Aran said, waving her hand. She turned around slightly. "Hey Teary, your friend's here for 'ya!"

The orange-haired Nova girl approached the doorway, and Mercedes let her through. She was dressed in a earth-green robe that had been provided by the hot spring. It appeared to be at least a half a size too big, as the sleeves came down around the base of her fingers. Two holes had been cut out of the back to let her wings through. Kyle opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Aran.

"He said he wanted to take a walk with 'ya! You should go! You should go!"

"I-wha-huh!?" Tear looked a bit startled, and her face flushed.

"Don't worry!" Chuckled Aran. "Go on with him." The warrior playfully shoved the girl into the hallway.

"Have _fun_ ~!" She teased, and shut the door, leaving two slightly stunned Novas alone in the dimly-lit hallway.

"...what was that about?" Asked Kyle.

"H-huh?! Oh! That! I dunno." Responded Tear. "W-what did you mean 'go for a walk' anyway?"

"Huh? W-well, it's nice out, so I just felt like it." Kyle lied. "Besides, I...thought you might be a bit lonely. What with you being the only normal girl in a room full of heroes."

"O-oh...right..." Tear said sheepishly and turned a deep shade of red. She slapped her cheeks twice and shook her head to get herself back to normal. "So...walking."

Kyle let out a laugh as the two headed down the hall.

* * *

Tear was enthusiastically telling Kyle the story Kyrin had been telling everyone, something about Valerie getting drunk and accidentally firing Cutter's favorite toolbox from the Nautilus torpedo tube, as the two walked outside. They stepped out into a small, outdoor rock garden lit by nothing but the occasional lantern and firefly. It was a sort of cross between dark and creepy, and astonishingly beautiful.

Kyle noticed where he was and started to put Neinheart's plan into practice.

"You know, Hawkeye was talking about how this place was haunted."

"Haunted?" Tear laughed. "That's silly!"

"It's true, it's true! Apparently a man who had a secret he told no one about died here suddenly, unable to reveal his secret to anyone, he finds those who also have secrets, and if they don't reveal them, he drags them down to hell!" At the end of this story, Kyle made his best "scary story" face and grabbed Tear's shoulders lightly.

"KYAAAAHAHAHA" Tear let out a half-scream, half-laugh. "Spooky, scary, hahaha!" She pushed Kyle back.

Kyle laughed as well. "Hey hey, it's only a story. Something Hawkeye told on top of that! Nothing to worry about!"

" **Is that so**?" A voice spoke outloud. It had an unearthly echo to it, like wind blown through a hollow piece of wood.

Tear froze and instantly paled. "Wh...who...said that...?"

There was silence.

And as the silence grew deeper, a black chain shot out of the shadows, and latched itself onto Kyles foot. It tugged backwards, and Kyle fell to the ground, the chain dragging him towards the center of the garden. Kyle's body was lifted off the ground, and the air whipped itself into a whirlwind around him. Black energy flowed out of the ground and permeated within the tornado.

* * *

"The thing about faking being captured is that you need some way to make the capture seem real." Neinheart said. "If there are no real powerful monsters in the area, then we must create a powerful monster of our own."

"Yeah, but, how?" Asked Jack.

"We have three powerful mages, two of which have direct relations to dark magic." Neinheart gestured towards Luminous, Brighton, and Evan.

"I see..." Said Mihile. "We become the monster."

"Precisely." Neinheart nodded. "Kyle tells Tear a rumor of a 'ghost'. Once she has the story in her head, we proceed to create some special effects to fuel the rumor and make it seem real; wind magic, courtesy of Evan, mixed with the dark energy, which we can draw from Brighton and Luminous, to create a presence where there is none. The rest of us make voices that seem to come from 'nowhere', and you have yourself a 'ghost'."

* * *

"KYLE!" Shouted Tear.

" **Secrets...secrets must be told...** " Called a voice from a nearby tree.

"S-secrets..." Tear looked nervous. She shook her head and shouted into the night. "I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BUT YOU BETTER GIVE KYLE BACK!"

" **Tell...you must tell...** " Cried another from the bushes.

"Y-you're that ghost!" Tear stammered. "I-I don't care how scary you are, let Kyle go!"

" **Only if you tell...** " Spoke one from behind.

"N-no..."

"Tear!" Shouted Kyle.

" **Tell...** "

" **...tell...** "

Tear looked around her, searching for some way out, some way to help.

Finding none, Tear grit her teeth, took a deep breath, and then proclaimed at the top of her lungs:

"I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU! I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU FOR THE LONGEST TIME NOW, KYLE!"

The words echoed off into the night.

"Wha...?" Asked a befuddled Kyle.

The whirlwind stopped instantaneously, and Kyle fell to the ground with an loud "Oomph!"

"KYLE!" Tear ran to his side. "Are...are you ok?"

"I...buh...huh?" Managed a dazed Kyle.

"SHE SAID WHAT NOW?!" Exclaimed a voice from behind Tear.

"W-who's there?! Show yourself!" Tear angrily yelled.

There was loud, confused mutter, followed by a "woah!" as Hawkeye, Jack, and Yuuki came tumbling out of a nearby bush.

"W-who...!?"

"'YER IN A LOVE WITH HIM?!" Exclaimed Hawkeye. "SWEET TRANSCENDENTS I DIDN'T SEE THAT COMIN'!"

"Wha...wha..." Tear stuttered, turning bright red.

"I mean we come out here to figure out if 'yer the Angelic Buster or not and wind up learning that you love 'im!? Holy sh-"

"Hawkeye!" Shouted Mihile as he climed out from behind a large rock. "Shut up! Now!"

"A-an...angeli...angelic..." Tear's face was entirely red by this point. "Angelic...angel...UWAAAAAAH!"

The orange-haired girl ran off passed the pile of heroes and towards the door to the building.

"T-Tear!" Called Kyle, finally able to catch his breath, though still on the ground.

The door opened wide to reveal Aran, as well as a smaller girl with animal ears and a purple-haired girl with a ribbon headband.

"Wha's goin' o-WOAH!" Yelped Aran as the crying Nova girl ran past her. There was a long, awkward silence.

"I dunno what's going on..." Aran glowered at the various men who were climbing out of their hiding spots. She focused hard on Kyle. "...but _you_ had better get your ass _movin_ ' and apologize to that girl before I use Maha to tear you a new one, _capiche_?"

Kyle scrambled to his feet, and raced past the towering warrior and after his friend.

"Now..." Aran shot an evil look to the remaining men and cracked her knuckles. "Line up, and explain, so I can hit you."


	6. Chapter 6

"Tear!" Kyle shouted at the fleeing figure.

The girl kept running, and kept a solid distance between the two. He kept running after her until Tear burst through the main entrance and outside.

'She's not going to listen to me like this.' Is what Kyle thought.

Kyle grit his teeth and set his feet; his wings expanded to twice, then three times their size. He leaned forward and, forcing all of his energy into his feet, he pushed off the ground.

The floorboards splintered with an audible "crack", and Kyle went flying through the air at an incredible speed. As he came up upon Tear, he twisted himself mid-air, then twisted his body with a backwards corkscrew and firmly planted his feet into the ground. He skidded to a halt in the muddied path a few feet away from Tear.

He stood there, panting, as his wings returned to normal size.

"Tear!" He exclaimed. Then he took a moment to look at his friend. The girl was still visibly crying, her eyes were puffy, and her face was noticeably red.

He had caused this. He had done this to her. Kyle had never hated himself more than this moment. He should have trusted his friend. He should have just asked her, not invented some ridiculous scheme.

He walked forward.

"I...I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry I did that...I hurt you, I'm sorry...please do-BUGAH!"

Kyle had expected a slap, or some kind of verbal insult. He didn't expect Tear's fist to connect directly with his jawbone. Upon getting hit, Kyle slipped in the mud and immediately fell to his knees.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!" Tear shouted angrily. "THAT WAS SO MEAN! I THOUGHT YOU GOT CAPTURED! I THOUGHT..." She paused and lowered her voice. "...I thought you were going to get hurt..."

Tear knelt down, and reached her arms around Kyle's neck. She then proceeded to put the Kaiser into a full-blown headlock.

"NEVER!" She shouted at him. "PROMISE ME NEVER TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

"OW! OW!" Yelped Kyle. "I GIVE! I PROMISE! UNCLE, UNCLE!"

Tear relaxed her grip and Kyle rubbed his neck. He heard a sniffle and looked over at her. Of course, she was still crying.

"H-hey now...I promise, never again." Kyle said. He reached out his arms towards Tear, who was wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. Come on, stop crying, please?"

Tear sniffled, and leaned into Kyle's arms, resting her head on his chest. Kyle gently placed his arms around her and stroked her back.

"I'm sorry..." He repeated in a soft voice. "...I'm sorry..."

As Tear's sobs died down and became less audible, Kyle couldn't help but focus on his friend.

'Her hair smells so nice...' He thought, and brought his hand up to the hair at the base of her neck while he stroked her. '...it's soft, too...'

"Kyle..." Tear's voice snapped Kyle back to reality. "...I'm sorry too..."

"W-what do you have to be sorry about? This is all my fault!"

Tear pushed herself away from Kyle, and wiped her eyes. "Y-you heard me say something strange..."

Kyle thought for a moment.

'I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!'

Kyle flushed bright red. "O-oh...r-right...t-that was definitely...um..."

"Y-You mean you didn't realize?!"

"H-hey! I fell from 6 feet up!"

"You brought that on yourself!"

There was a long silence.

"Did you..." Kyle mumbled. "...did you really mean that? What you said about...?"

Tear turned a deep shade of crimson.

"W-well...haha...I..." She put her hands over her face. "...I made you think about something bad, I'm sorry..."

"Bad?! No, no! That's a good thing! I-I mean...oh geez..." Kyle turned his face away from the embarrassment. "I-I-I mean, I thought...you wouldn't think that way about me, after I did that whole...thing..."

"N-no! I-I mean yes! I-I mean no, I still think that! Oh gods what am I saying...?" Tear hid her face.

There was another awkward silence.

"You...you really mean that?" Kyle asked.

Tear didn't move for a moment, and then nodded.

"I...I've never really been in love before, I mean...does that mean..." Kyle twiddled his fingers together. "...kissing, right?"

Tear's face looked like it could boil water, and the two met each other's gaze.

Kyle couldn't help but stare at her face. Her green eyes seemed to glow in the night.

The two started leaning closer, and closer...

Tear pushed Kyle in the chest.

"Wait." She said. "There is something I need to tell you."

Kyle was confused as Tear slowly lifted up her right sleeve to reveal a sparkling crystal bracelet. Part of it curved outward in the shape of a wing.

"You know when we found those weird guys messing with the relic that generates the shield around Pantheon?" She asked. "You awoke as the Kaiser, but as for me..."

She gently brushed the relic, and took a deep breath.

"I'm the Angelic Buster."

Kyle stared. "So it was true."

"What was true."

"I...well...I saw you...um...practicing a few dance moves in the forest."

Tear blushed. "Y-you saw that? Oh geez..."

"It...it's kind of why I staged that whole ghost thing." Kyle admitted. "To see if you really were her or not. No one really expected the whole...y'know..."

Tear nodded, still red.

"Um...by the way..." Kyle glanced at the relic. "Who was that...person you were talking to back then?"

"Oh!" Tear's face lit up, and then turned into a look of disgust. "Oh...that would be...give me a second..." She murmured under her breath, and then held up her arm and shouted out.

"Eskalade! I need to talk to you! Come out!"

There was a slight sound, like a ringing of keys, and the relic sparkled and its colors shifted, and in front of the two Novas materialized a translucent, blue dragon. It yawned.

"Aw man, I was in the middle of a nap, what's up?" The dragon blinked and looked at Kyle. "Hey...HEY! Didn't I say you shouldn't tell anyone about me?!"

"Kyle, this is Eskalade." Announced Tear.

"Don't ignore me!"

"He's the pervert who makes me dress up like that."

Kyle's face darkened. "Pervert? And why does he make you do that, do tell?"

"H-hey now, don't get hasty kid! You look like you're about to kill me!" Eskalade looked panicked.

"Because..." Tear sighed. "It's his power that I'm using to fight monsters. So I have to do what he says. That's why."

"Yup! I'm a bonafide Nova GOD here, boy!" The dragon proudly pointed to himself.

"If you've ever done anything to her I swear I'm gonna..." Kyle grit his teeth.

Eskalade stared at the two for a while, then huffed a sigh.

"Hey, hey, I'm not that kind of pervert."

"So you admit you are one?!" Kyle snapped.

"...besides, can't touch anything anyway." The dragon waved a claw through a nearby tree in order to prove his point. He then walked close to Kyle, leaned right next to his ear, and whispered to him.

"Don't worry, she's only get eyes for you, lord Kaiser."

Kyle was a mix between embarrassed and angry as the dragon let out a smug grin.

"Weeeell...I've got quite a few Z's to catch up on, so if you don't mind..." He gave a small wave. "Nighty-night! And don't wake me!"

With that, he disappeared, and the relic grew dark. Tear quickly covered it up. There was a long silence.

"So..." Started Tear. "...yeah."

"'Yeah'?" Asked Kyle. "You travel everywhere blasting monsters along with a perverted dragon god! That's...that's..."

"Weird?"

"I was going to say 'stupid', my powers are way cooler."

"They are not, moron!" Tear shoved Kyle over, and the two broke into laughter.

After a minute, Kyle stopped laughing and glanced at Tear. She looked so happy now...

"Hey Tear?"

"Yeah?" She turned toward him.

He leaned forward and planted his lips square on hers. They felt soft to him.

He pulled away after a second.

"If...if you're ok, with an idiot like myself."

Tear blushed, then reached over and pulled Kyle's head in for a kiss of her own.

"Of course, stupid."

The two smiled.

"We should head back, before someone gets worried..." Kyle said.

"Sure." Tear grinned.

The two walked back into the hot spring building, hands entwined.


	7. Chapter 7

Kyle and Tear approached the door to the rock garden. It was shut, but Kyle could hear chattering coming from behind it. The two Novas stopped right in front of the door.

"Hey..." Kyle started. "What should we tell everyone?"

"A-about...us?"

"I was going to say about you being the Angelic Buster, but they'll probably want to know that too." Kyle said sheepishly.

Tear frowned. "It...it's kind of supposed to be a secret..."

"Then we wont tell them." Kyle smiled and clasped her hand tighter. "If it's a secret, it'll be our secret."

Tear smiled back. Kyle took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

The garden was filled with all sorts of heroes. The girls had apparently joined the boys while the two had been out. Captain Kyrin appeared to be arguing with Hawkeye about something, Evan was rubbing the back of his head while talking to Chase, the Beast Tamer, who appeared to have taken Evan's wand and was comparing it with her own scepter.

"Ah." Mercedes noticed the two Novas and tapped Aran on the shoulder.

"Oh? You two are back?" The white-haired warrior asked. She started walking towards the two with a smile on her face.

"Y-yeah..." Kyle said. "And there's something we gotta-BLAGH!"

Aran brought her fist down on Kyle's head, square between his horns.

"OW! What was that for?!" Kyle yelped.

"'Yer the idiot who came up with that dumb idea in the first place!" Aran yelled back. "It's obvious I'm gonna hit 'ya for makin' a girl cry like that!"

"I already got hit!"

"Too bad!" For good measure, the warrior hit the Kaiser for a second time.

"Don't try to escape, kid." Hawkeye grunted. "We all got in trouble for your stupid plan."

"My plan?! Neinheart came up with it!"

"Yeah, well, he got hit too."

"So?" Aran cracked her knuckles. "Did 'ya apologize or do I need to hit 'ya again?"

"I apologized! I swear!" Panicked Kyle.

"He did! He really did!" Tear supplied.

Aran sighed and relaxed a little. "That's good then."

"So...?" Started Jack.

"So what?" Asked Kyle.

"So how'd it go between you two?"

"Oh! Th-that's...um..." Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. Tear reached out her hand to him, and he took it, knitting his fingers through hers. There was a momentary pause.

"EEEEE! SHO CUTE!" Chase squealed, and her tail wagged. She ran over to the two and started hopping up and down. "ARE YOU TWO GONNA GET MARRIED? YOU'RE SHHOOO CUUUUTE TOGETHER!"

Tear flushed. "M-married?"

"Like a match made in dork heaven." Commented Belle, the Wild Hunter.

"Lovey-dovey couples, bleh." Jack made a face to indicate his disgust with all things involving love.

"Don't be that way." Evan said.

"Oh you're one to talk Mr. Dragon Master Hero, every time the alliance meets all you do is make googly-eyes at Mer-"

"SHHHUUAAAT UP ABOUT THAT!" Evan clapped a hand over Jack's mouth.

"Eh?! Evan you have someone you like too?!" Chase gasped. "You should confess! Do it! Do it! Tonight'll be a night for LOVE!"

"No."

"Aww come on..."

"I said no, Chase. Drop it."

"Don't tell me what to do!" The animal-eared girl huffed. "I'm older than you, remember?"

"By a week!"

"Doesn't matter." Chase stuck out her tongue.

"This is lively." Commented Shade, who had a calm smile on his face.

Kyle let out a laugh, as did Tear.

"Hey..." Kyle began. "...where is Neinheart, anyway? I should thank him, I guess."

"Half-glasses went to take a bath." Brighton piped up. "Apparently he takes his baths alone, like he said."

"I wish Claudine were here." Sighed Belle. "I would have switched the signs on the baths, and sent her in after him."

"That's crazy." Said Hawkeye. "The two would fight like a pair of rabid dogs."

"Nah, they're just repressed." Said Belle. "They'd probably just act like a couple of rabbits and start f-"

"BELLE!" Snapped Mercedes. "THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE!"

"Hey, that reminds me..." Said Hawkeye. "...the Neinheart bit, not the rabbit bit...did the plan actually work? I mean..." He directed his attention to Tear. "Are you really the Angelic Buster, kid?"

"'Course she's not, moron." Said Aran. "What kind of dumb question is that?"

Kyle glanced at Tear.

"That's a secret." He said, and the two grinned.

"Ehh? You mean she actually is?" Jack looked disappointed.

"Huh? N-no, I just said..."

"Kid..." Said Hawkeye. "You tried to sound cool by telling everyone 'it's a secret'. That means it's like, a 95% chance of being true."

"Totally" Confirmed Mihile.

"Wha...I...I'm not!" Tear protested.

"Too late." Said Aran. "Y'should hit 'yer boyfriend for spilling it."

"I didn't spill anything!" Kyle complained.

"Hey, kid." Said Brighton. "Little tip from the Resistance: If you wanna lie about not being something, just say you're not that something. Easy-peasy."

"Bragging about something is foolish, whether you brag directly or indirectly." Luminous said.

"Thanks for the fortune cookie, Lumi." Said Hawkeye. Luminous glared at him.

"Still, kid, don't you think it's kind of bad that a bunch of perverted geezers ogle your girlfriend all the time?" Commented Kyrin. "I mean, she goes on stage and does all those dance moves."

"Look on the bright side!" Said Belle. "Now when they're alone, she can dance just for him!"

Both Tear and Kyle turned bright red.

"BELLE!" Yelled Mercedes. "THERE! ARE! CHILDREN! HERE!"

"Huh? Dancing?" Chase looked confused. "I can dance."

"Really?" Asked Jack. "Would you do it for m-BUGAH!" His comment promptly earned him a well-deserved punch right in the face from Yuuki.

"Thanks 'fer hittin' him so I don't have to." Said Aran.

"Don't mention it." Said Yuuki.

"This got out of control." Said Tear.

"Sorry I spilled our secret." Said Kyle.

"Spilled? N-no! You're good." She blushed. "Y-you were cool. I think."

"Y-you really think so?"

She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on his cheek.

"Yes, you're my one and only hero."

"And you're my idol."

The two smiled and leaned close, as the friendly arguments between a dozen heroes faded out into the night.


End file.
